Monday, March 26, 2007

Cleaning for Passover

A story is told about Rabbi Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev, the Kedushas Levi, the great defender of Klal Yisroel, that before Pesach (Passover), he called out to HaKodesh Baruch Hu (to the Holy One, Blessed Be He)...

"Ribono Shel Olam, Master of the Universe, on Rosh Hashanah we pray that the melachim (the angels) formed by the blowing of the shofar (ram's horn), formed from the tekiah, from the shevarim, from the teruah, and from the tekiah-shevarim-tekiah, and the tekiah-teruah-tekiah... should open the gates to our prayers to ascend before Your throne of glory and be accepted.

But on Pesach (Passover), we have no shofar, no tekiah's. However, we have the scrubbing, and the scraping, and the kashering, in throwing ourselves into Your command of eliminating chametz (leavening) from our homes. So in the merit of our scrubbing, and our scraping, and our kashering, and our scrubbing and scraping and scrubbing, and our scrubbing and kashering and scrubbing, may the gates be opened that our seder's may ascend before Your throne of glory and be accepted."